


Under a Red Sky

by Musetotheworld



Series: SuperCat Week 4 [4]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/F, showing Cat the memory of Krypton
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-04
Updated: 2019-10-04
Packaged: 2020-11-23 03:56:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20885726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Musetotheworld/pseuds/Musetotheworld
Summary: With the help of an augmented reality device, Kara can show Cat the first place she called home.





	Under a Red Sky

Kara glances around as she leaves the DEO, still not comfortable returning to the organization's base after the mess with Lockwood. Supposedly they're all on the same side again, but Kara can't forget the stress and fear of the past few months. At least Alex remembers her now, and doesn't have to hide from Colonel Haley. The newest President was happy to sign off on Alex returning to full control without the need for White House oversight on every mission.

So, for the most part, Kara avoids the place. She'll help out on missions, but she keeps the anti-kryptonite suit close. She doesn't tell the DEO that, of course. As far as they're concerned, it's sitting on a shelf in Alex's lab for further studies. And both Danvers sisters want to keep it that way.

Today she isn't helping, though. Today the only mission is one she knows the government wouldn't allow. After the havoc uncontrolled virtual reality just caused in National City, the device in her hands should've been destroyed. Officially, it's being destroyed now.

But with a little help from super-speed and a crushed drone from the days Lord was still around being a nuisance, Kara'd saved it.

She could've recreated the technology with time. Probably could've also worked in a few improvements and upgrades for increased functionality. But that would mean starting from scratch, and while she might still do that down the line, this is a perfectly functional unit as is.

Well, once she puts in a few safety protocols.

That doesn't take long once she speed memorizes the relevant programming styles. That's another point in favor of eventually creating her own system, no more fiddling with pre-existing human code. Kara can do it, but it doesn't come naturally.

Once the device is ready, she waits for the weekend. It's Carter's turn with his father, and while Kara usually misses him, she knows it's better to try this while he's gone. At least the first few times. After that, who knows. It'll be up to Cat.

"Ah, is this what you've been working on?" Cat asks when Kara presents the sleek headset one night as she's sitting on the couch.

Kara smiles as Cat turns the device over in her hands, looking impressed. Because okay, she didn't do the physical designing. But she's still put a lot of work into the headset where it counts. "Yeah, the programming took a few days. But it's ready now."

"And you're sure it's safe?"

Kara doesn't take offense at the question, knowing one of these devices had nearly wiped out National City before she could shut it down. But that was human programming and human failure. Kara's Kryptonian education and access to Brainy's specific AI knowledge means there's no risk of a repeat.

"It is, I promise you. I had Brainy check the coding." She'd had to promise him a special game night in exchange for dealing with what he called primitive scribbles, but it'll be worth it.

That's all it takes to convince Cat, and with a smile, she lets Kara settle the headset into place. Carefully making sure the sensors align, Kara powers it up before quickly slipping on her own. Her unit will be running the simulation, so she needs to get it started so Cat can join.

It's the work of mere seconds to find the correct file, and then Kara is opening her eyes and stepping forward into a reconstructed Krypton. The familiar warmth of the red sky above her settles into her bones, and she smiles at the sight of distant mountains.

She's been here several times over the past week, making sure her coding was correct and the memories were uncorrupted. But it still sends a pang of longing through her heart every time the interface clears and she's back in the first place she called home.

"It's beautiful."

Cat's tone is full of the same reverence Kara feels. She might not have the same memories of Krypton and all it means to Kara, but she's heard the stories. Kara's whispered them to her in the middle of too many nights to count. Painted numerous paintings of landscapes no human has seen. Landscapes no one will see again, outside of simulations like this one.

"The mountains over there, my parents took me to visit them on my fifth name day," Kara says, pointing out which she means. "There's a waterfall in one of the valleys that always catches Rao's light no matter what time it is. It isn't in the simulation yet, but I'll take you there one of these days."

Cat nods, stepping closer to the window to look down at the city below. There's movement, the simulation pulling speeder traffic from Kara's memories. There are no people, the pain of remembering too great to bring them into this simulation. But the speeders lend life to their surroundings anyway. 

She'd hesitated on including them, at first. It felt almost like cold machinery making a mockery of what was once home to millions. But the first time Kara stepped into the simulation with nothing moving it felt like a ghost town. Haunted and empty of everything except memories.

So she'd added the speeders.

"This was your home?" Cat asks, turning away from the view to take in the room around them.

They're in the main living space of the dwelling, the place Kara remembers sitting with her parents going over their days. Her father would explain some experiment or another, her mother a judgment she'd made or heard of. And Kara would recite what she'd learned in class that day, asking questions any time she wanted to know more about a subject. Her father's knowledge and willingness to explain anything she asked about were a big part of her grades and position as top of her class.

"My mother used to sit there."

Her father used to tease Alura about it, claiming the chair was very nearly a throne. Settled in the center of the seating area, it had a good view of everything. It was also the most comfortable, and Kara loved curling up on her mother's lap or snuggling into her side. Once she got too big to share comfortably, she'd sneak into the chair every time her mother left the room and left it open.

They wander through a few more rooms, and Kara decides she'll want to add a few Kelex robots to the programming. Empty as the place is now, their footsteps echo a bit too much for comfort.

The last room Kara leads Cat towards is her own room. She has bittersweet memories of it now, after both the Black Mercy and knowing it was the last place she saw Astra on Krypton. But she wants to show Cat everything she remembers of Krypton. She wants the stories to be more than words, she wants Cat to experience it the same way Kara has. 

The view from her window is one she knows Cat will recognize. She's painted it a hundred different ways. Every time of day and night, every season. With stars in the sky and with Rao's light shining strong.

"I would say my evening prayers in front of that window, every night," Kara says, walking across the room to stare out at the landscape. It's a matter of seconds to change the simulation time and set Rao lower in the sky. His light, so much dimmer than Sol, becomes a soft presence on the horizon as Kara feels her lips move in familiar prayers.

Cat joins her, only stumbling slightly on the harder words. She isn't religious, not the way Kara is. But that hadn't stopped her from learning anything Kara would teach. Next to Alex, Cat is probably the human most fluent in Kryptonian on the planet.

"Your home is beautiful." The words are wistful, and Kara nods her agreement as she lets the time play forward, watching Rao slip below the horizon.

Maybe someday soon she'll take Cat to Argo. Let her see the place Kara's culture lives on. The people who lived in this empty city under the warm red light of a distant sun. Who were shaped by this planet.

Because Kara will tell Cat anything she can remember. Everything Cat wants to know, if Kara can answer, she will. But one person can't explain an entire society. Not in the way experiencing it firsthand will.

And Kara definitely wants Cat to experience the little things that make her Kryptonian in a way that goes beyond physiology. The taste of fresh _dusyl_, or the smell of Kryptonian bread cooking. It's a smell Kara's never found on Earth but that she'll never forget.

For now, though, this will work. Visits to Krypton and the places Kara remembers seeing with her family, shared with Cat and eventually Carter.

Because while she doesn't have her family on Krypton anymore, she has a family back on Earth. And as much as she wants them to know her past, she would never trade her new home for these empty memories.

**Author's Note:**

> I originally had a bigger plot idea with this, but then it turned soft and wistful. And honestly, I think I like it better this way.


End file.
